Why are chloroplasts important?

Chloroplasts perform photosynthesis, a fundamental process for the survival of plants and almost all life forms on earth. These specialised cell organelles are crucial for plant growth, development, and immune responses as they are involved in the synthesis of essential cellular components like nucleotides, amino acids, vitamins, lipids, secondary metabolites, phytohormones etc.

How do chloroplasts develop?

Chloroplasts develop from the immature type of plastids called proplastids present in the dividing or undifferentiated cells. Chloroplast biogenesis involves multiple processes like plastid DNA replication, gene expression, division, synthesis and assembly of thylakoid membranes etc., which ultimately depends on importing thousands of proteins from the cytosol. Research shows that developing chloroplasts constantly communicate with the nucleus (retrograde signalling) for their developmental needs, a process that coordinates the synthesis of nucleus-encoded organelle proteins.

What is our research focus?

We are interested in uncovering the mechanism of chloroplast development and its regulation by employing techniques of cell biology, molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, and computational biology to explore avenues for enhanced chloroplast development.

Our current research focuses on understanding how cytosolic proteins are translocated through the chloroplast membrane and how retrograde signalling regulates chloroplast development.